Report for SHAL year ending April 2024.
By Rosemary Stutchbury
This last year has been full of excitement for SHAL members now over 50 strong and the coming year, also holds lots of possibilities for exploring our lovely historic village.
We’ve had a wide range of talks this year starting with a
A Visit to Dover in May to see the Bronze Age boat and Painted house. We were all impressed by the Museum and the display of the boat, but disappointed to find that the Painted house was closed temporarily so another visit in due course perhaps.
In June John Jarvest kindly organised a visit to the National Trust Fan Bay Site on the Dover cliffs. Lots of steps and a network of tunnels used during the second world war, during the defence of the Dover Strait. John has been involved in digging out the site and we really appreciated his guidance,
In July our own member Janet Powell, gave a talk on the tithe revolt of the 1930s. Who knew that the local farmers and landowners were such a belligerent group and staged lots of local protests . Eventually these tithes were stopped, but before that farmers could be imprisoned for non payment so not surprisingly they objected, especially if they were non conformists and didn’t support the local C of E Church.
In August the highlight of the year, our dig on Beacon field from August 14[th] to - 27[th] . Richard Taylor is coming to talk to us at this year’s AGM on April 16[th ] to tell us about the findings, so I won’t elaborate here, but the whole experience was amazing, well worth the hard work put in by diggers, pot washers and detectorists. Our thanks to everyone.
In September James Holman came to talk to us about Medieval New Romney and its Importance as a town at this early date with three churches and a large harbour area.
The October talk was given by Andy Linklater, who has a collection of glass slides from a local newspaper archive illustrating life in Kent during the 1940s and early 1950s. Amazing pictures, which some of us recognised from our early life !
Vince Williams returned in November to talk to us about places of worship in Folkestone that have disappeared or been converted. More than 30 places ranging from small chapels to large Victorian Churches. Patronised by everyone from railway workers to fishermen as well as wealthy tourists and residents. In December we were able to hold our Christmas dinner and social evening at Lympne Castle courtesy of the new owners. An amazing evening thoroughly enjoyed by all in the superbly decorated Great Hall.
In January m embers and guests were invited to bring information or memories of the two World Wars in Lympne to the meeting. John Simpson of the Airfield Group gave a fascinating talk to open the meeting. He concentrated on the various houses that were taken over by the armed forces to house officers and men, and started a lot of discussion of wartime Lympne.
In February we had a talk by Chris Shaw of Shornecliffe Trust on Shornecliffe Barracks & SE Defences. He has promised a guided tour at some stage too so we will probably take him up on that.
In March Andy Linklater- gave a talk entitled ‘The Romans are coming’ discussing the two Roman invasions under Julius Caesar and Claudius and the change to the culture from that of the Iron Age.
Lots more talks and events planned for the coming year and out thanks to you the members, the committee and all those who help keep SHAL alive and active .
Rosemary
SHAL
Studying History and Archaeology in Lympne
Registered Charity No. 1168727Unaudited Accounts
| INCOME | 2023/24 | 2022/23 |
|---|---|---|
| Membership Fees | 1470.00 | 710.00 |
| Donatons on the Day | 77.40 | 99.00 |
| Other Donatons | 118.97 | 50.00 |
| Roman Dig 1 Donatons | 653.80 | 1050.00 |
| Plaque Replacement Donatons | 121.20 | |
| Gif Aid | 146.24 | |
| Smile Amazon | 10.56 | |
| Christmas Meal | 900.00 | |
| Visits and Events | 500.00 | |
| Interest on Savings Account | 22.92 | |
| Total Income | 3864.29 | 2065.80 |
| EXPENDITURE | ||
| Venue Hire | 358.00 | 206.15 |
| Speakers and Events | 860.00 | 395.00 |
| Annual Dig | 916.80 | 1078.62 |
| KAS Membership | 50.00 | 25.00 |
| Insurance | 151.22 | 96.00 |
| Refreshments | 51.11 | 20.80 |
| Rembrance Wreath | 23.98 | 21.63 |
| Renewal of Domain Name | 38.39 | |
| Christmas Meal | 945.00 | |
| Capital -Plaque, Dig Boxes | 189.20 | |
| Other Expenditure | 10.97 | |
| Total Expenditure | 3594.67 | 1843.20 |
| Surplus | 269.62 | 222.60 |
| ASSETS AND LIABILITITES | 2023/24 | 2022/23 |
| Cash in hand and bank B/fwd | 1563.27 | 1340.67 |
| Income | 3864.29 | 2065.80 |
| Expenditure | -3594.67 | -1843.20 |
| Balance Carried Forward | 1832.89 | 1563.27 |
| REPRESENTED BY | ||
| Metro Bank - Current Account | 299.97 | 1553.27 |
| Metro Bank - Savings Account | 1522.92 | |
| Cash in Hand | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Total | 1832.89 | 1563.27 |